Stamford runners return to Boston to reclaim race

Jonathan Lucas and Megan Spicer

Published 11:08 pm, Sunday, April 20, 2014

Katina Wolfe, of Fairfield, ran in last year's Boston Marathon and was at mile 25 when race authorities stopped her. She left the race and didn't find out about the bombings until later. She is returning to run again this year for the Dana Farber Cancer fund and to show her support for Boston, the city where she was born.
Photo: Autumn Driscoll

Katina Wolfe, of Fairfield, trains for the upcoming Boston Marathon Wednesday, April 16, 2014, near Southport Harbor in Fairfield, Conn. Wolfe ran in last year's Boston Marathon and was at mile 25 when race authorities stopped her. She left the race and didn't find out about the bombings until later. She is returning to run again for the Dana Farber Cancer fund.

Carrie Hall, who will run in this year's Boston Marathon, runs near...

Robert and Avery Flowers pose for a photo in their Darien home on Friday, April 18, 2014. Robert ran the Boston Marathon for the first time in 2013 and plans to run again this year.
Photo: Lindsay Perry

Robert and Avery Flowers pose for a photo with their Bernese Mountain Dog, Liebe, outside their Darien home on Friday, April 18, 2014. Robert ran the Boston Marathon for the first time in 2013 and plans to run again this year.
Photo: Lindsay Perry

Robert and Avery Flowers pose for a photo with their Bernese Mountain Dog, Liebe, outside their Darien home on Friday, April 18, 2014. Robert ran the Boston Marathon for the first time in 2013 and plans to run again this year.
Photo: Lindsay Perry

STAMFORD -- Born and raised in Boston, Jeff Englander knows what it means to be Boston Strong.

The 51-year-old Stamford transplant will be returning to Hopkinton Monday for the start of what will be an "emotional and energetic" 26.2-mile run to "reclaim the race" that was overshadowed by the terrorist bombs that killed three people and injured more than 260 near the finish line last year.

"I'm going just to show that we won't be stopped and we're going to reclaim the race," Englander said. "The finish line in Boston is unique with thousands of people cheering runners on, and for them to desecrate the finish line like that, I think as a group I want to reclaim it and say you can't do this, and the bigger statement is that we won't live in fear or be intimidate and we will go on."

Englander was on the course last year between mile 22 and 23 -- just past his old Newton neighborhood and the course's signature Heartbreak Hill -- when the bombs exploded. He kept running until he found his girlfriend near mile 24.

"It's going to be a bittersweet experience to go back," said Englander who is running to support the American Liver Foundation's Run for Research. "I think of all the people hurt and lost their lives. To me, it's especially tragic since people were there to experience this great event with friends and families and innocent people were just devastated by what happened physically and emotionally."

Englander is among a group of more than 50 runners from Greenwich, Stamford, Darien and New Canaan running in this year's race.

Darien resident Robert Flowers never questioned returning to this year's marathon.

"For most runners, this is the biggest race they run," Flowers, 55, said. "Sure it will be different this year because of last year. Some will be running with raw emotion."

In 2013, Flowers and his wife Avery, walked into the Lenox Hotel -- sandwiched between the explosion sites -- after Flowers finished the race in 3:25:37 -- a qualifying time for the 2014 race. They were having a drink and food when they heard the first blast, which exploded at the finish line.

A SWAT team swarmed the hotel lobby and evacuated everyone. The hotel would become a command center in the days that followed while a citywide manhunt for the bombers was conducted. In the days following the bombings, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and his older brother, Tamerlan, were identified as the bombers. Tamerlan was killed during a shootout with police and Dzhokhar, 20, has pleaded not guilty to a 30-count federal indictment that carries the possibility of the death penalty.

Flowers and his wife only had $20 to $40 between them. No wallet. No purse. And one cellphone with a dying battery. Luckily, one of Flowers' cousins lived nearby.

This year, Robert and Avery Flowers have an added purpose for running the race: Raising funds for A Better Chance Darien.